Barbara Windsor is having “some really good days” as she battles Alzheimer’s – but would be lost without husband Scott, says her ex-EastEnders co-star.

And Rita Simons – who played her TV niece Roxy Mitchell – said her old pals from the BBC soap plan trips to visit 81-year-old dame Barbara at home.

Scott Mitchell, 55 – Babs’ husband of 18 years – revealed she was suffering from the disease last May.

Rita said: “Just because she’s got this terrible disease doesn’t mean she’s locked up in her flat all the time.

“She still has a laugh – she just has to factor this in as part of her life. She’s been having some really good days.

“She’s got Scott who is amazing. That is commitment. Without Scott Barbara would be lost. He’s the most wonderful husband to her.”

Barbara with husband of 18 years Scott Mitchell (Image: Getty)

Rita left EastEnders 18-months ago when Roxy and screen sister Ronnie Mitchell, played by Samantha Womack, were killed off.

She has since starred in the musical Legally Blonde – the West End version of the hit Reese Witherspoon movie.

“Me and Sam Womack are going to go and see her now I’ve finished Legally Blonde,” said Rita.

“I haven’t seen Barbara since panto last year when she came to see me.

“That was when I realised – it was the first time I saw first hand that she wasn’t well.”

Asked if all the cast would go and see Barbara, she said: “Yeah. I’m still in touch with a lot of them.”

Rita, speaking at the Hereford Films summer party, said: “Since I left EastEnders I’m having the time of my life. I’ve just done Legally Blonde, I’ve got other stuff on which I can’t talk about right now.”

She calls discrimination against older women in the TV and film industry “a “fallacy,” adding: “I’m 41 and I’ve had twins.

"I don’t know if I could make it as Bond girl these days. But I think there are so many roles around for older women. I don’t let age define me.

“I was put up for a role for a slightly older frumpy mum-type recently but I turned it down because I don’t think I’m ready to play mum-type characters yet.

“I played Paulette Bonafonte the hairdresser in Legally Blonde and she’s nuts. I’m glad I still get to play the fun, quirky characters.”

In fact Rita – who stars in new gangster movie The Krays: Dead Man Walking – claims she is even crazier than the characters she portrays.

“I was in a hospital a few years ago and when I came round from an operation I pulled the drip out of my arm, climbed out the window and had a fag whilst off my nut on anaesthetic,” she said. “The nurse caught me and pulled me back in.”

Rita has been with hair salon boss partner Theo Silverston for 21 years. “The secret is we both have our own careers,” she said.

“When I was doing Legally Blonde he was doing all the school runs and the dinners.

“But now I’m back he’s like ‘Here’s your children – now I’m going to work’.